The Right to Vote Belongs to American Citizens Only

If you need ID to pick up a prescription, you should need proof of citizenship to pick the President of the United States.

Let's stop pretending this is complicated. The SAVE America Act says one thing clearly: if you want to vote in a federal election, you must prove you are a citizen of the United States.

That's it. That's the whole controversy. On February 11, 2026, the House passed the SAVE Act. It requires documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. It requires secure photo ID to cast a ballot. It directs states to clean noncitizens off the voter rolls using federal databases. And it creates real accountability for officials who ignore the rules.

And somehow, this is "extreme." Give me a break.

We require identification to board a plane. We require identification to enter federal buildings. We require identification to open a bank account. We require identification to conduct basic financial transactions. We require identification for countless aspects of daily life.

But when it comes to choosing the leader of the free world, suddenly verification is offensive. What's offensive is pretending that citizenship is optional.

President Donald J. Trump has been crystal clear about this. As he has said repeatedly, "Only American citizens should decide American elections. Period." That is not rhetoric. That is the line in the sand. A nation that cannot define who votes cannot define itself.

The left's argument is predictable. They say this will "disenfranchise" voters. They say it will "reduce turnout." They say it's too hard to produce documentation like a passport or birth certificate.

Read that again. They are arguing that proving citizenship in a federal election is too much to ask.

The SAVE Act allows passports, birth certificates with valid ID, military IDs, tribal IDs. It allows provisional ballots with follow-up verification. It is structured. It is reasonable. It is lawful. What it is not is reckless.

Polling consistently shows overwhelming bipartisan support for requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. The American people are not confused about this. Washington elites are.

Public confidence in elections has taken a hit over the past decade. Whether the number of noncitizen voting cases is large or small is almost secondary. If Americans believe the system is porous, legitimacy suffers. And once legitimacy erodes, the entire constitutional order starts wobbling.

If we cannot guarantee that only citizens vote, then every close election becomes a courtroom battle. Every loss becomes suspect. Every victory becomes disputed. That is how republics decay. This is about restoring confidence before that damage becomes permanent.

I did not come to this issue through policy papers. I came to it through my family.

In 1994, my father, Perry O. Hooper Sr., won the race for Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Or at least, that's what the voters decided. What followed was nearly a year of legal warfare as the other side tried to steal that election through every procedural trick available. For eleven months, the result hung in the balance while Democrats fought to overturn the will of the people.

My father eventually took his rightful seat. But that experience burned a lesson into everyone who lived through it: if you don't have strong election integrity laws, the people who want to manipulate outcomes will find a way to try.

That's why, when Governor Fob James took office, honest elections became the priority of his first year. And that's why I personally sponsored several of Alabama's Honest Elections Bills, including the voter ID legislation that Alabama still operates under today.

Alabama already requires voter identification. We did not fall apart. We did not suppress democracy. We strengthened it. I know, because I was in the room when we wrote those laws, and I know exactly why we wrote them.

Washington can learn something from Alabama.

Our Senator Katie Britt is not a spectator in this fight. She is sitting in the room where the rules are written. Judiciary. Border Security and Immigration. Rules and Administration. Appropriations. If this bill moves, she will be part of shaping it. That is not a small role. That is leverage.

She has said plainly, "The right to vote is sacred, and safeguarding it is not partisan - it is patriotic." She has introduced the Citizen Ballot Protection Act to strengthen citizenship verification and reinforce the same principles embodied in the SAVE Act. That is not symbolic positioning. That is leadership.

Now comes the moment of truth in the Senate. If opponents want to stop this bill, they should have to stand on the floor and do it. Not procedural tricks. Not quiet holds. Not backroom maneuvering. Force an actual filibuster.

Make them talk. Make them explain to the American people why proving citizenship to vote in a federal election is somehow unreasonable. Make them defend that position in daylight, not in parliamentary shadows.

If they believe so strongly that citizenship verification is wrong, then they should be willing to hold the floor and say it out loud.

Here is the reality: the overwhelming majority of Americans believe only citizens should vote in federal elections. That is not partisan. That is common sense.

The House has acted. Now the Senate must decide whether it will stand with American citizens or side with the activist pressure machine.

This is the test. You either believe citizenship matters, or you don't. The American people are watching.

Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a former State Representative, a current member of the Alabama Republican Executive Committee, the 2016 Trump Victory Chair, and a widely published columnist on policy, politics, and current events.

Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Alabama Gazette staff or publishers.